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Look Up Some Old Timers

You’ve got the bow tie, fountain pen and horn-rims. It’s time to find the right vintage watch.

By

Ken Kessler

Nov. 25, 2014 12:36 p.m. ET

OLD IS IN. But with new versions of watches styled a lifetime ago, why buy elderly originals? It’s a mix of rarity and snob value, to be sure, but there’s something else that attracts watch lovers to the vintage pieces: the knowledge that the watch was made by hand and not by computer.

Once you’ve decided that you fancy something antique, though, you enter a world without the safety net of buying a brand-new item. A new purchase,...